“He seemed trustworthy.” Dad remains resolute, despite the outcome of the appeal.
“But I warned you many times that it wasn’t a good idea.”
“I’m not the only one who’s affected by his scheme. Big companies like Saks, Neiman—they all bought into it.”
“Yes, but you’re the only one who lost everything.”
“I was told it was a foolproof deal. If you had that kind of assurance, wouldn’t you put everything into it?”
“It was your pride. I know it was. I’ve always warned you about it. You were trying to cover up your insecurity by getting yourself involved in bigger, riskier deals.”
“Insecurity?” He scoffs. “I don’t have—”
“Dale, just because you didn’t go to college doesn’t mean you’re not smart. You just have to stop trying to prove it to others. Isn’t it enough that you and I know that you’re smart?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says. “In any case, it doesn’t matter. George is gone, and so is our money.”
“It does matter,” Mom says in a softer voice. “You realize it seems like you chose him over me, someone who’s been by your side the entire time?” She sniffs.
“Gloria, you can’t see it like that. You know what it’s like in the meetings.”
For once Mom doesn’t disagree with him. “Sometimes you have to listen to your instincts even if they go against the trend. Isn’t that what you said in your book?”
“That’s different. These men run the industry. How could we benefit from being on the outside of the fashion world?”
“How are we better off now?” This time Dad falls silent. “It was a gamble either way, and it would have been better if we lost everything knowing that you took a chance on us.”
I go back to my room. I don’t want to hear more. Now I know there’s nothing we can do but wait to see how the board decides to reorganize the company and what type of role Dad has in it. Which means Mom was right after all. What other choice do we have but to wait it out?
I know it’s possible to work my way back to what I was, but that takes time. In a year I’ll graduate from high school, and my parents will expect me to go to college. How can I tell them I have no intention of going to college if I don’t have anything better lined up for me? My future that used to be Swarovski clear is now fogged-up glass.
Excerpt
“Being a leader is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.”
The American Dream Achieved: The Story of Dale Ok, Founder of It’s Ok!
Transcript
60 MinutesInterview with Gloria Ok
Interviewer:But whatever Dale’s motivations are, it seems like they’ve pushed him to a level of success people can only imagine. And now you live in a ten-thousand-square-foot mansion in the wealthy neighborhood of Calabasas. Tell me, how does that compare to living on a farm?
Gloria:To be honest, everything happened so quickly, I hardly had time to notice the difference. In the early stages of It’s Ok!, we were inundated with getting it set up and running. Once we made a steady income, everything happened all at once. The house, the press, the success. It was such a blur.
Interviewer:Sounds like a lot of work.
Gloria:We were used to the work. It was the rise in status that was a bigger adjustment.
Gloria:The majority of the people in Korea are working class, with the poor at the bottom and the chaebol—high society—at the top. Dale said that now that we were chaebol, we had to act accordingly, like in Korea. When we had Gavin and Elena, we hired the best nannies. When they started school, we sent them to the best private school. We were determined to give them the life we didn’t have.
Interviewer:But the hard work made you who you are.
Gloria:That’s true. I never thought of it that way.
Chapter 15
